The present invention relates to a telephone apparatus with a capability of making addition and deletion of area code easily when making a callback to a telephone number of an incoming call.
Telephone apparatuses adapted to caller identification delivery services hitherto have functions of storing received information of a calling party and displaying a telephone number of the calling party in a display unit.
FIG. 7 through FIG. 10 are schematic illustrations, each showing a telephone number displayed in a display unit of a telephone apparatus of the prior art: As shown in FIG. 7, telephone apparatus 1 of the prior art adapted to the caller identification delivery services has functions of storing received information of a calling party and displaying a telephone number of the calling party in display unit 2. When a user at the call-receiving side wishes to return the call, or call back the telephone number shown in display unit 2 of the telephone apparatus 1, the user normally performs a simple call operation (off-hook operation) without dialing the number to make the call.
However, as shown in FIG. 8, the telephone apparatus 1 heretofore displays even an area code, which needs not be displayed, if both of the calling party and the call-receiving party are within the same area (area code of xe2x80x9c092xe2x80x9d for instance). Although the user at the call-receiving side can make a callback (a return telephone to the caller) by simply performing an off-hook operation, it takes time to call back because the telephone apparatus dials even the area code, which is not really necessary.
In addition, it costs an extra charge when the area code xe2x80x9c092xe2x80x9d is dialed in some cases, depending on telephone companies.
Since the area code is not necessary when calling a party in the same area as the caller, it is desirable to delete the area code xe2x80x9c092xe2x80x9d as marked in a square enclosure of dotted line in the case shown in FIG. 8, for example. In this case, while the caller""s telephone number delivered by the caller identification delivery services being shown in display unit 2, the user first switches into an editing mode by pressing edit button 4 on control section 3, and moves a cursor to a digit to be deleted by operating a cursor button. The user then deletes the digit highlighted by the curser one after another to erase the unnecessary area code xe2x80x9c092xe2x80x9d, and completes revision of the telephone number.
In some cases, depending on services of telephone companies, all digits of the area code are not completely delivered through the telephone line, as shown in FIG. 9, even if a calling party and a call-receiving party are in different areas from each other. If this is the case, it is likely that display unit 2 does not show all digits of the area code of the calling party, but only digits xe2x80x9c93xe2x80x9d out of the area code xe2x80x9c093xe2x80x9d. When this happens, the user needs to properly addresses the area code xe2x80x9c093xe2x80x9d before making a callback. For this, the user turns the editing mode first by pressing edit button 4 on control section 3, and operates the cursor button to move the cursor to a position of digit where a new digit is inserted, as shown in FIG. 10.
Then, the user operates a ten-key button on the control section 3 to input a digit to be added one by one, to make a revision of the telephone number, i.e. adds a digit xe2x80x9c0xe2x80x9d of the area code xe2x80x9c093xe2x80x9d as marked by a square of dotted-line.
As described, there are cases in that the user needs to revise telephone numbers according to area codes in the telephone numbers of incoming calls, when the user wants to call back the other parties of the incoming calls. It has been a very annoying task for the user to revise telephone numbers in the above manner. In addition, since the telephone apparatus displays a telephone number of any incoming call just as it is delivered, it is quite unclear for the user if the area code is not displayed completely. Moreover, a problem has been that the user can not use the telephone number as is for dialing a call, if he/she registers the number just as it is received into an electronic telephone directory.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,422,938, there is disclosed a telephone apparatus that stores telephone numbers transmitted from a telephone exchange, and edits the stored telephone number data for use in making a callback. That is, whenever the telephone apparatus detects a telephone number of a calling party incoming from a telephone line, it stores the number in a memory. An editing unit reads telephone numbers out of the memory by switching them one after another in a sequential order according to a command from an input unit, and displays them in a display unit. The telephone apparatus transmits a telephone number edited by the editing unit to the telephone line when the user makes a call operation.
Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication, No. H04-360445 has also been published as a corresponding patent to the above.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication, No. H11-74961 discloses another telephone apparatus that allows a user to register a short dial number easily and accurately without requiring a user to input identification information of a calling party such as telephone number and name. That is, the telephone apparatus stores in a memory caller""s telephone numbers received through a receiving unit. When the user selects one of the caller""s telephone numbers stored in the memory while showing them in a display unit, the apparatus retrieves information of a caller corresponding to the selected caller""s telephone number from a telephone directory database stored in a storage medium such as CD-ROM, and displays it in the display unit. When the user operates a key on a control section for registration of short dial number, the apparatus registers in the memory any of the selected caller""s telephone number and the telephone number retrieved from the telephone directory database, along with identification information such as caller""s name in a corresponding manner to the short dial number.
According to the present invention, a telephone apparatus comprises: a) a caller information receiving unit for receiving caller information delivered from caller identification delivery services along with rings of an incoming call; b) a caller information storage unit for storing the received caller information; c) a display unit for displaying the received caller information; d) a dial signal transmitter for transmitting a dial signal; e) an electronic telephone directory for registering a telephone number and the like; and f) a telephone number comparator for comparing a telephone number included in the caller information stored in the caller information storage unit with another telephone number registered in the electronic telephone directory, wherein the display unit displays a telephone number based on the telephone number registered in the electronic telephone directory when the telephone numbers match at least in part as a result of comparison by the telephone number comparator.